News Briefs

Lawmakers now are reviewing the U.S. Defense Department’s first annual data-driven review of purchasing. Officially titled “Performance of the Defense Acquisition System, 2013 Annual Report,” the document is the first publication of an annual effort to sift through the mountain of data available on the department’s purchases and to determine which work and which don’t. The point of the report, says Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, “is to help us all figure out ways to do a better job with [acquisition]” and ultimately to ensure more and better products.

The Chief of Naval Operations' Reduce Administrative Distractions (RAD) team is collecting input about how to streamline or eliminate administrative processes. With an interface similar to social media platforms, the U.S. Navy website, created by IdeaScale, enables visitors to share their observations about training, administrative tasks, procedures and instruction, and then propose their ideas for efficiencies.

Robots slightly shorter than the average human may be able to connect portions of the offline world to the online world digitally. Knightscope Incorporated will soon be testing the K5 and K10 robots, which can autonomously prowl through large areas and small spaces, collecting significant amounts of data from their immediate surroundings. Applications include perimeter surveillance of military bases and inspection of power plants.

Civilian and military bomb squad teams from across the country are participating in the 7th Annual Western National Robot Rodeo and Capability Exercise this week. Hosted by Sandia National Laboratories, the event pits these experts against each other to determine who can most effectively defuse dangerous situations with the help of robots.

The initial steps have been taken to transition soldiers from Army Knowledge Online to next-generation enterprise services. Secretary of the Army John McHugh authorized the move, which will support enterprise systems for collaboration, content management and unified online capabilities. Army military retirees and family members will continue to have access to Defense Department online self-service sites such as Tricare and MyPay through DOD Self-Service Logon.

Women who use technology in their professional lives as well as make significant contributions to their communities will be honored at the 13th Annual Heroines in Technology Gala, on November 8, 2013 at the Hilton McLean of Tysons Corner, Virginia. Award winners will be announced in five categories: Rising Heroine, Individual Heroine, Corporate Heroine, AFCEA International Government and Lifetime Achievement.

Research at the Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, has revealed part of the mechanism by which particles of lithium ions move in and out of lithium iron phosphate (LFP). The findings could lead to improved performance in lithium ion batteries used in aircraft, electric vehicles and electronic equipment.

As part of his effort to build a 21st century infrastructure, U.S. President Barack Obama on June 10 signed a presidential memorandum designed to speed the modernization of the nation’s electric grid. The initiative will help make electricity more reliable, save consumers money on their energy bills and support homegrown American clean energy jobs and industries by making renewable energy easier to access across the country, say White House officials.

The U.S. Navy’s latest unmanned aircraft designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection and dissemination hit a milestone this month, completing its first flight. The event marks the start of a series of tests to validate the system for future fleet operations. The MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System reached 20,000 feet altitude during the 80-minute flight in restricted airspace while Navy and Northrop Grumman personnel controlled it from the ground below.

U.S. soldiers are expanding the use of the Capability Portfolio Analysis Tool (CPAT) across the Army’s modernization program after its success in shifting the paradigm for conducting analysis. CPAT offers an advanced combination of modeling, simulation and optimization decision support software. Currently, the Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems (PEO GCS) is its primary user, employing it to analyze potential scenarios as technology advances and changes occur in the global environment and the federal budget as well as other factors that could influence future purchases.

The tool, which can be accessed by users with a valid Common Access Card or External Certification Authority certificate via the Internet or the Unclassified-But-Sensitive Internet Protocol Router Network, is part of the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Identity and Access Management collection of solutions.

The U.S. Army is expanding its Range Radar Replacement Program (RRRP) with a high/medium power close-in radar system. The new mobile system will provide fine detail when tracking munitions and other targets at a range of at least 37 miles. The close-in radar system joins the fly-out radar system, the first range instrumentation radar system developed as part of the RRRP. The program aims to help the Army modernize test ranges through cost-effective, digital technologies.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the most comprehensive update to the government’s computer security guide since 2005. The fourth revision of “Security and Privacy Controls for Federal information Systems and Organizations” (SP 800-53) addresses issues such as mobile and cloud computing, applications security, supply chain risks and privacy concerns. It also calls for maintaining routine best practices to reduce information security risks while applying state-of-the-practice architecture and engineering principles to minimize the impact of threats such as cyber attacks.

The U.S. Defense Department has signed a space situational awareness (SSA) memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Australia’s Department of Defence. The MOU permits the the two countries to exchange SSA data, which facilitates transparency and improve flight safety.

U.S. Army Research Laboratory officials have announced the winners of the 2013 Federal Virtual Challenge at the Defense Users’ GameTech Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The challenge featured two distinct focus areas for entries. The first required training critical thinking and adaptability skills in an immersive environment and measuring learners’ progress. The second focused on improving user interfaces in virtual environments, specifically for individual and group navigation.

The National Institutes of Health is funding the development of a medical instrument that will quickly detect biothreat agents, including anthrax, ricin and botulinum as well as infectious diseases. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are creating the first of its kind point-of-care device that could be used in emergency rooms during a bioterrorism incident. To design the device, which will be able to detect a broader range of toxins and bacterial agents than is currently possible, the $4 million project will include comprehensive testing with animal samples.

The malware that infiltrated computer systems across South Korea’s banking and television broadcast industries on March 20 shares similarities with the Shamoon program used last year to wipe clean the hard drives of 30,000 Saudi Aramco workstations, according to experts at General Dynamics Fidelis Cybersecurity Solutions. Investigators at the company’s newly-opened cyber forensics laboratory in Columbia, Maryland, say the malware is not a Shamoon variant, but that the two programs share some characteristics.